1884 .] 
THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 
tc- 
!8-f 
THE AMBER QUEEN GRAPE 
18S 
“Bunch large, shouldered like the Ham¬ 
burg ;hen-y large, frequently oblong; kohls 
persistently to the bunch ; amber-cobred at 
first, but gro ws diu-ker, till it becomes a purple 
Grape; flesh tender, rich, and seeds Jmall; 
plant a strong growei; with thick loaves 
somewhat downy on the under side. Fruit 
always eatable in August, and with nvoner 
care will keep all winter.” ‘ 
''J 
PICKING AND WINTER 
CARE OF APPLES. 
Apples that are very 
fine -when on the tree 
are often rendered al¬ 
most worthless by be¬ 
ing picked at improper 
times and by careless¬ 
ness in their storage 
during fall or winter. 
In some sections of 
New Jersey, those to 
whom tradition is the 
only guide say Apples 
keep best if picked 
from the tree at or soon 
after the full of the 
moon in the month of 
September. Such peo¬ 
ple are like the blind 
leading the blind, apt 
to fall in a ditch. Nature 
cannot be controlled by 
set rules as to dates for 
the picking of fi'uits. 
Apples should be picked 
as soon as the stem sep¬ 
arates easily from the 
branch, the date of 
which will vary con¬ 
siderably in different 
years. The keeping 
qualities depend in a 
great measui-e on re¬ 
moving the fruit from 
the tree before the 
ripening process is far 
advanced. 
Handle with care, re¬ 
membering that every 
blemish shortens the 
time of keeping. Place 
in good, clean packages 
suitable for storage. 
All of the so-called 
Russet varieties should 
be secui’ely covered to exclude the air, and 
not be opened until needed for use, as the 
keeping of these depends upon having them 
completely protected against cuirents of air. 
The place of storage is of equal impor¬ 
tance. Opinions are divided as to whether 
fruit keeps best and longest when stored in 
dry or moist air. As dry storage is the method 
generally employed and best imderstood, 
that of moist will be considered. For sev- 
eral years I have stored Apples in barrels 
from which the air is excluded by a cover o 
boards somewhat larger tha,u the opening at 
the head end just laid over the top. _ ® 
cellar is that of an out-building with a dirt 
floor, upon which at times driving the 
enough water will collect to become muddy. 
i ho barrels are placed upon stagings slightlv 
rarsed,tokoepthebottomsfr.omthcwet. Tim 
collar IS kept dark, and as near the froe^iing 
point as possible without freeing the fruit 
},. r the 
I t 111 very late in the season andwitl. but 
little loss from decay. Those who adopt this 
method of storage think that the moL at¬ 
mosphere retards the time of ripening. 
In some respects, the present season has 
boon a remarkable one; the latter part of 
July and the first part of August have been 
unusually wot-quito a contrast to the 
mers of many years past. 
the BORDEAUX DISTRICT OF AMERICA. 
Grapes of the most luscious kind grow in 
wild profusion in the Albemarle section, 
and the most valuable native species are in¬ 
digenous to North Carolina. In an address 
before the Press Association of North Caro¬ 
lina, Mr. P. M. Wilson expresses the opinion 
that the Piedmont slope will bo the Bordeaux 
district of America. 
sum- 
Next winter’s ex- 
porionco in storing Apples may, therefore, 
show difforent results, as the meteorological 
THE AMBER QUEEN GRAPE, 
conditions of a season have a great influence 
on the keeping qualities of fruit. 
The various natural defects inherent to 
certain varieties become also decidedly ap¬ 
parent by any process tending to retard the 
ripening of fruit. Climate, seasons, soils, 
and locations exert also powerful influences 
in this regard, and it is only by careful 
observation and experience that the pecu¬ 
liarities of each variety under given con¬ 
ditions can bo ascertained. So, with me, 
the Baldwin Apple is subject to molding at 
the core, even when kept perfectly dry, and 
the more ripening is retarded, the greater 
this evil becomes; hence the variety cannot 
be kept very long by any process. 
J. B. Rogers. 
at!,, 
“ A glance at any physical map of Virginia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Geor¬ 
gia,” ho says, “ will prove the wonderful 
advantages of situation that these States 
possess for Grape culture. A study of the 
geological formation of the slope along its 
entire trend, and of the chemistry of its soil, 
will satisfy the inquirer 
that every variety of 
soil, and of almost every 
gi’ade of fertility, is fur¬ 
nished by this sweep of 
country, which is more 
than a thousand miles 
in length, and varies in 
breadth from fifty to one 
hundred miles. Meteor¬ 
ological observations, 
extending over a series 
of years, have demon¬ 
strated the mean cli¬ 
mate to be all that 
could be desired for the 
growth of vines, and 
the fruiting and ripen¬ 
ing of the various vaii- 
eties of Grapes that are 
grown in this belt. 
“ Humboldt gives the 
.fr./ thermal limits of profit¬ 
able viticulture as fol¬ 
lows : The mean annual 
temperatm-e should ex¬ 
ceed 49°, the winter 
temperature 64°, and 
the mean summer tem¬ 
perature 64°. These 
limits are at Bordeaux 
respectively 57°, 43°, 
71°. In the middle sec¬ 
tion of the Piedmont 
region in North Cai-o- 
lina, where observations 
have been made in many 
localities by the State 
Geological Smwey, the 
corresponding figures 
are 58°, 44°, 74° ; and 
a very judicious French 
writer on this subject, 
Chaveronvier, has ob¬ 
served that the excep¬ 
tionally good vintages 
correspond to the years in which a high tem- 
peratui-e characterized the vintage months, 
while the thermometer ranged low in those 
years which were marked by inferior vin¬ 
tage ; and it is well known that in om' 
South Atlantic region the summer tempera¬ 
ture usually reaches beyond the middle- of 
September, so that the average for that 
month is 70°. 
“ The number of vineyards in North Caro¬ 
lina is already encouragingly large. The fa¬ 
mous Tokay Vineyard, near Fayetteville, is 
the most extensive one in the State (and, in¬ 
deed, the largest single vineyard in the South, 
if not this side of the Rocky Mountains), and 
whose fine native wines bore off the premium 
at the Atlanta Exposition.” 
